The Life of a Creative, Healer and Bodyworker

Monthly Archives: June 2012

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I love great bumper stickers. I love to drive up behind a car and see what saying someone thought important or funny enough to stick on the back of their car. Don’t you find yourself wondering about the person driving that car? I do. I find I’m curious about their interests, their philosophies, prejudices? Mind you, I don’t put bumper stickers on my cute little periwinkle blue, two-seater, Chrysler Crossfire. But if I had an old clunker, there are some “keepers” that I’d be tempted to plaster there. This is one of them:

So, here’s my take on Karma and Dogma:

Often called the Law of Cause and Effect, Karma is the vibration that we emit habitually through our thoughts and beliefs

Our habitual vibration acts as a magnet to attract to us experiences that match our beliefs and thoughts

While karma is often thought to be the effect of actions taken (cause), those less-than-optimal actions result from beliefs (fears mostly) that would show up as “bad” karma

Good karma also shows up as an outpicturing of thoughts and beliefs. Love, kindness, positive energy

Karma is not some reward or punishment for past deeds. It is simply the reflection of a vibration which can be changed at any time.

Dogma is typically a set of beliefs imposed by others and accepted without question.

So, to become more conscious and to rise above any pattern of Karma here are a few suggestions:

Question your beliefs. Look at where they came from and decide whether they still serve you.

Disrespect reality! It is just the outpicturing of your beliefs up to now.

Choose your thoughts and beliefs wisely.

Learn from your mistakes and in the process be gentle with yourself.

Stop telling yourself scary stories from the past. The story keeps you stuck in the belief in “reality” and your beliefs about yourself.

Yes, while I do think there is a basic law whether you call it Cause and Effect or the Law of Attraction, it is simply a reflection of your beliefs, thoughts and vibration. And know this: you can change your vibration and therefore your karma in a single moment…

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Show kindness whenever possible. Show it to the people in front of you, the people coming up behind you, and the people with whom you are running neck and neck. It will vastly improve the quality of your own life, the lives of others, and the state of the world. – Ann Patchett

And I would add, Enjoy your day!

Love,

Cathy

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Last week, during our monthly Energy Healing Course call, Lisa shared her recent experiences with our physical energy healing process. Swallowing back a few tears, she told us of a new awakening. After years of spiritual practice, Lisa suddenly realized last month that she was still mostly fixed in a mental/intellectual pattern of self-judgement. The shift happened when she began focusing more on her body through the physical healing techniques she’s learning in the course.

I teach a kinesthetic approach to intuition and healing, and Lisa related that her new abilities to feel physical sensations brings her more into her body and out of her intellectual mind. Suddenly she realizes that she’s a Divine being in a Divine body. Many of her old perceptions of herself and her life are no long longer important and the physical sensations that she’s experiencing are leading her into new levels of enlightenment.

Lisa’s revelations brought me back to something I’ve known for many years, but it had become so much a part of my own being, my own way of working and healing, that I had literally taken it for granted. Her message is this: our bodies are our direct route to the Divine. Blessed with a huge array of receptors specifically tuned to feel and interpret vibration, when we can quiet the mind and feel – physically feel – the information of the Universe opens to us in ways that cannot be described in words.

Many spiritual traditions incorporate body-centered practices as a way of quieting the mind and bringing the spirit into the present moment. Walking meditation, focusing on the breath, bell or chime ringing, candle gazing, hatha yoga, tai chi – all of these practices help to move us from our intellectual mind into our bodies and in that space, we truly feel the vibrations of our existence.

So – what better way of being body centered than through the process of practicing physical healing? I often say to my clients that I’m incredibly blessed to get to be fully present for twenty-one hours a week (the number of sessions that I typically do). To do my best work, I listen actively, I use my eyes to read the structural patterns in the body, and I use my hands to feel for energy imbalances as well as physical restrictions through palpation. It’s that place of the curious and objective observer (senser) that allows me to glean information, interpret it and act – all the while including my own thoughts, feelings and intuition in the mix.

This isn’t to say, that everyone needs to be a healer in order to be enlightened or happy. But in our world where many spend most of their day in front of a computer screen, simply allowing oneself to feel from a body-centered place, even while typing at a keyboard can bring us back to the present moment.

One of my favorite sayings is this: Be where your body is. If you’re typing on the computer, allow yourself to feel your fingertips touching the keys. If you’re eating lunch, sit down and feel as you take a bite – the texture, taste, temperature, visual appeal of the food. And if you’re doing healing – notice your client and yourself in the interaction. How are they breathing – how are you breathing? How do your hands feel as you touch them or scan their energy field? How does your body feel as you move during the session?

And what other ways can you tune into this marvelous array of sensory receptors in your body to bring you into the present moment and the Divine in your daily life?

Much Love,

Cathy

P.S. – Thank you, Lisa for the inspiration for this post. You have reminded me of something I do all the time, but it has become so ingrained that I forgot to mention it! Love you! Cathy

For those of you who have been following my posts on the fire in our area, I wanted to send out a quick update today. The fire has moved North, away from our home and away from the home of one of my close friends and clients in a nearby canyon, but it is still blazing and has burned several more homes in the Poudre River Canyon area. The count is now close to 200 structures destroyed.

Firefighters had been able to get a handle on containment last week with cooler weather and less wind – 60%. Then, the winds picked up yesterday afternoon and the fire raged out of control again in an area where there are many homes. Containment has now gone down to 45%. Firefighters had to be pulled out of their positions in protecting structures for their own safety. Many people now have been evacuated, allowed to return home and reevacuated as the fire moves around. Its erratic behavior seems almost human in its determination to destroy structures in its way.

A report on Twitter from the media briefing last night quoted a veteran firefighter who said they hadn’t seen fire behavior like this in many years. Acreage burned is now close to 70,000 the second largest in Colorado history. For many reasons, (obviously) I wish I could report better news, but as I’ve said in earlier posts, we’re dealing with nature here. And also contrast is simply a part of life…Still, the very good news, evacuations have saved lives, and the firefighters have also remained safe.

Love,

Cathy

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For those of you who have pets and want to give them the best nutrition, I have put up a post on my lifestyle blog that you might like. Just thought you might want to know…You can read it here. And this is Leo before I got him on the new diet! Don’t you just want to rub that belly? And he’d let you, too! That’s a Tonkinese for you!

How many times have I heard this phrase? And how many times will I hear it again? I often equate “It’s a small world” with synchronicities, especially those events that link us humans to each other in fun and inspirational ways. I’m talking about those seemingly miraculous events that I can’t explain in any way other than through the effects of the Law of Attraction or through the intervention of the Divine (same thing).

One of the things I love about blogging is the wonderful people I’ve met through this process – blooming friendships through the exchange of ideas, feelings, photos, readings, poems, humor. Short comments are always welcome and as I find my favorite blogs, I make more comments of support, agreement, delight, and those who have agreed with me do the same. It’s surprisingly rich and rewarding and has expanded my horizons in ways that I never expected.

This week I was struck by another “coincidence” that touched my heart and brought tears of gratitude to my eyes. I’ve been conversing through comments with Gina V. at Professions for PEACE and over the short few months that we’ve been exchanging ideas, we have developed a lovely friendship. Gina commented on one of my recent posts about the wildfire that is still burning near my home in Northern Colorado. Her revelation blew me away! Her brother is a helicopter pilot who works as a firefighter – traveling throughout the Southwest helping to put out wildfires and he’s here in Fort Collins now!

The local news this week has shifted some of its focus from the day-to-day reports of acreage burned to more factual stories about firefighting. In one of their reports, they talked about the contributions of the helicopter force. It seems that, in this particular fire, the helicopters have played a huge role in helping to contain the fire. They’re small, agile and can quickly pump water from nearby lakes and return to drop it on the fire for repeated runs. And the exciting news is that the fire is now 50% contained!

I’m so grateful for all of the firefighters and their efforts to protect my community and more specifically, my own home. And the connection to this one firefighter through the blogosphere is a powerful reminder that we are all one, all connected through this web of energy that we cannot see. Thank you, Gina’s brother, and thank you, Gina for your friendship and support. And thank you to all of you who read this blog and click “like” or comment. Who knows what synchronicities we’ll discover as time goes on?

What recent synchronicities have you enjoyed? Or what have you noticed recently that caused you to say, “It’s a small world?” Feel free to share below!

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On a beautiful spring day in 2010, Peter and I went with Angie and Soraia for a hike in our nearby mountains. Only a twenty minute drive from Fort Collins, Bobcat Ridge Open Space hosts trails that wind through grasslands and into the foothills overlooking town As we walked the two Rotary high school exchange students strolled ahead of us and chatted as teenage girls do.

Because Bobcat Ridge is so close to town, quite a few people were on the trail that day. Mountain Bikers, people on horseback and hikers like us were enjoying the space, the day, the chance to get out and be in nature. And almost without exception as we passed each one, we got a smile, eye contact, and a lovely “Hello,” which we returned in kind. It’s something that most seem to do out here, especially on the trails.

After the fifteenth person passed, smiled and spoke, Angie, who is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, slowed her pace, turned to us and said: “You know, when I first came here I wondered about this habit. One day, as I was riding on the bike path through town with my host dad, I asked him: “So do you just know everyone here?”

As we all laughed together, I was struck by the beauty of this message. Our willingness to share a smile and a nod on these lovely natural trails reminds me of the yogic salutation – “Namaste.” It is usually accompanied by the gesture of placing the palms together in a prayer position and holding them over one’s heart while making eye contact. Loosely translated, Namaste means: “The Divine in me recognizes and honors the Divine in you.”

I know that in large cities like Angie’s, where people live in close proximity, the culture dictates a certain level of privacy. Speaking to and smiling at everyone on the street would be considered rude or even worse, crazy. But out in nature, and in my smaller community, I find this simple habit makes the hike a richer experience…

How do you feel when guided to share a smile and a nod in your daily adventures?